How to Kickstart New Social Media Profiles?

So, you’ve got a new website and want to promote it. You click over to several social media sites to create new profiles and begin to wonder how you’re going to get any visibility when your profiles are profoundly empty.

Your site is fresh, without a whole lot of content; and now, you’re wanting to power social engagement, which makes for a real conundrum.

Of course, everyone has to start somewhere and just thinking about how to get traffic to your site isn’t going to deliver; you need to act. You know you need an action plan but question whether it’s worth the time and effort to build up your social profiles.

SEO, Social Signals and Conversion

Though the SEO community knows that social signals play a role in a site’s ability to generate traffic, Google has not explicitly laid out how those signals work nor how much of a roll they actually play.

A lot of businesses fail at social media. Even though you might have a presence on Twitter or Facebook, you still may not be considered ‘social.’ If you don’t engage your customers – and fail to create two-way communication – what’s the point? You’re simply using social media as an advertising channel, not a relationship-builder. Social media is like email marketing. Can you reach a new audience with your email marketing? Likely not. –Forbes

However, several case studies have found a very strong correlation between social interaction and traffic to a site.

The simple conclusion is conversion rates increase as social interactions increase. What’s more, social continues to gain in popularity and activity. So, it’s an essential part of content marketing; and, it doesn’t come with a price tag (unless you begin to advertise).

7 Ways to Kickstart New Social Media Profiles

Truth be told, there is no magic bullet which will shoot your interactions into outer space. By and large, you’ll have to earn your traffic, but the good news is once you begin to gain a solid foothold, your profiles will steadily increase and deliver.

Here are 7 things you can do to get your new social profiles to start working for you:

1. Start by optimizing your profiles. Fill out each profile completely and don’t forget to use your strongest keywords, but don’t stuff. Write so the summary gets to the point and leaves no question about what products and/or services you offer.
2. Use the email import feature. This is the part most people skip–that little message which suggests you import the emails from your address book. Take advantage of the automated technology and start building an audience.
3. Begin to find like profiles and connect. Reach out and follow others in your industry. This is an opportunity to see how you stack up and it’s also a strategic way to get some really good ideas.
4. Interact with new followers. When you get a new follower, message him or her and say “thank you” and then ask how you may help them. Do not make the mistake of trying to sell to them or you’ll likely find one fewer follower.
5. Pay for play. It isn’t free, but it will certainly help your profiles gain traction. Practically every social platform has some form of proprietary marketing, so use it to your advantage if you’re able.
6. Share lots of original content. You’re best weapon for audience building is to offer something to the conversation. Create and share copious amounts of useful, thought-provoking content.
7. Reshare content that’s useful to your target audience. Speaking of useful, when you see someone else sharing something your target audience will appreciate, reshare it. The person who initiated will be appreciative and you’ll probably gain another follower.

Building-up a presence on social media will take time and effort, but it will be worth it in the end. Keep in mind, this isn’t the place for straightforward sales talk, it’s a place to share information, be social, and build relationships.